


i'm aiming for you

by kangtv (galacticnik)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Magic Realism, That's about it though, and take advantage of the situation, jaehwan plays around with potions, minhyun is sick and jaehwan tries to be a good friend, not that romantic i guess, some magic but not really, sweats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 03:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12123657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticnik/pseuds/kangtv
Summary: Lesson learned: do not trust Jaehwan when he says he made you soup.





	i'm aiming for you

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from lucky by pentagon. self-edited as always, so please forgive any spelling/grammar/punctuation/formatting flubs!

“Hey loser, I made you soup.” There are people in this world who would be _thrilled_ to have Kim Jaehwan walk into their room gingerly carrying a bowl of steaming liquid in his hands. His hair is messy, sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and the orange streak on his cheek is just a thinly sliced piece of carrot. He looks domestic and soft and a bunch of other adjectives that Minhyun would never think if he was feeling at a hundred percent, but his body is only marginally weaker than his mind at the moment.

He’s still sharp enough to notice the mischievous glint in Jaehwan’s eyes, the slight upturn of his lips though he tries to school his expression into a neutral one when he sees Minhyun looking.

Even with a stuffy nose and a pounding headache punishing him for sins unknown, Minhyun can call bullshit when he sees it. “Leave,” he groans, rolling over and pulling the blankets over his head. One day. Just _one day_ free of Jaehwan and his… well, _Jaehwan_ in general. That is all Minhyun is asking for. One day to sleep like the dead (rest in peace better not be just a saying). He can muster up the energy to deal with his annoying friend once he’s recovered somewhat.

Jaehwan sits down beside him, still cradling the bowl of soup in his arms. “Aw, come on.” He presses an arm against Minhyun’s back and leans over. His voice is still too loud after being muffled by the covers. “You’re really going to shoo me, your lord and saviour, away when all I’m doing is bringing you some of this delicious…” Jaehwan trails off. “Jaehwan’s Special Soup? Sure, let’s go with that.”

Nothing Jaehwan says inspires confidence in him. Minhyun pokes his head out and glances over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. “I don’t trust you,” he says thickly. His eyes flicker down to the bowl and its murky contents while Jaehwan hastens to straighten up. “I don’t even think that’s soup.”

“Not _soup_?” An exaggerated gasp leaves Jaehwan’s mouth. Pressing a hand to his heart, he says, “What the fuck else would it be?”

 _Sewer water_ , Minhyun almost responds. But Jaehwan is well-meaning, if irritating and prone to too many jokes. Minhyun is pretty sure he wouldn’t try to poison or kill him. Not while he’s down sick, at least. It’s definitely not from an instant soup packet, however, which only leaves one explanation. “One of your nasty… things,” Minhyun says eventually.

“Things?” Jaehwan repeats, grinning. He cups a hand around his ear and shifts closer again. “ _Things?_ Use your words, Minhyun.”

“Potions,” Minhyun grinds out. If he wasn’t too weak to raise his arms, he’d strangle Jaehwan. Or just wrap his hands around his pretty little neck and let them rest there, exerting a little bit of pressure, reminding him that he could—

That got weird. He refocuses on Jaehwan’s face, only dimly registering what he’s saying. “—t’s wrong with my potions?” His indignation only feels half-faked; it’s apparently a touchy subject.

Minhyun sighs and wishes his pillow would swallow him whole, head-first. “You turned Daniel into a dog last week,” he says. “And you messed with Jinyoung’s voice the week before. He still sounds like a prepubescent boy.”

“Jinyoung asked for it,” Jaehwan counters. “And Daniel was cuter as a Samoyed, don’t you think?” Minhyun fixes him with a look and Jaehwan squirms. “Anyways, both those did exactly what they were supposed to, so I don’t know what you’re bitching about.”

“Leave,” Minhyun says again. He doesn’t have the mental capacity to argue this right now.

Jaehwan’s expression softens into something unreadable. “This one is just soup, I swear,” he says, tugging at the covers. Minhyun whines and tries to turn away, but Jaehwan’s hand moves to his shoulders, pinning him in place. “Just try it? I worked hard. Even cut myself—but I didn’t bleed into it; don’t worry.”

He’s still suspicious, but Minhyun is hungry. Living alone means no one to take care of you when you’re sick, no one to make you soup or porridge, no one to clean up the dozens of dirty tissues littering your floor—unless you have an annoyingly good friend like Jaehwan who, in spite of his busy schedule, takes time to come over and make sure you’re still alive. Minhyun should give him some credit.

“Fine,” he says eventually. Jaehwan whoops and helps him sit up. Minhyun reaches for the bowl, but Jaehwan holds it out of reach and grins.

“I’ll feed you,” he says, and Minhyun’s violent objection is tempered somewhat by the fact that he really doesn’t want to move his arms out of the comfort of his blanket cocoon. Instead, he frowns but opens his mouth, raising an eyebrow at Jaehwan’s hesitation.

“You’re actually going to—wow, I kind of like giant baby Minhyun.” Before Minhyun can object, Jaehwan spoons soup into his mouth, fingers brushing against his lips. His eyes widen in a way that makes Minhyun nervous all of a sudden.

Swallowing, he says, “I’m going to turn into a toad, aren’t I.” It’s not a question but a statement. Something _weird_ is in soup.

“Nope,” Jaehwan says quickly. _Too quickly._

“ _Kim Jaehwan_ —” Minhyun breaks off as Jaehwan shoves another spoonful in his mouth. He wants to press the issue, but all he can focus on is how tired he is and how good this soup tastes. “This is delicious,” Minhyun says furiously. He opens his mouth for another spoonful.

“I’m a master chef,” Jaehwan cackles, obliging.

“Master chef, you have something on your face.” Jaehwan blinks and freezes as Minhyun leans forward and presses his lips against Jaehwan’s cheek, slurping the piece of carrot up before pulling away. He smirks and ignores the rapid beating of his heart—it’s just the cold, Minhyun insists to himself—and sits back, pleased with himself.

Jaehwan flushes red. “ _Hey!_ ” He wipes at his face, avoiding Minhyun’s eyes. “Don’t—”

“Don’t what?”

Jaehwan grumbles under his breath. “Eat your soup.”

Later, when he’s feeling sleepy and Jaehwan starts to head out (promising to do the dishes before he leaves, but somehow, Minhyun doubts that), Minhyun grabs his hand and says, “Thanks.” He owes Jaehwan one. Or several. He’s not the best at expressing emotions, but he really appreciates it.

Jaehwan smiles. “No problem. Get well soon.”

(Here’s a spoiler: he does).

 

—

 

Being friends with someone like Jaehwan is complicated sometimes.

Minhyun has thus far been able to avoid being on the wrong end of one of his experiments. He equates part of that with natural born skepticism and a healthy suspicion of everything Jaehwan does. And a dislike for smoothies, Jaehwan’s preferred method of tricking his friends into ‘trying’ one of his creations.

Maybe it’s unfair. Jaehwan isn’t that bad of a potioneer (potioneer? Is that the right term? He distinctly remembers Jaehwan calling himself a witch once). He just likes to think of himself as a mad scientist/professional chef and dabble in things that may-or-may-not be legal. Minhyun isn’t sure—there has to be some kind of law against turning people into animals, right? Or trying to change your height to two meters and thirty nine centimeters and selling that to poor, susceptible shorties like Sungwoon.

The point is, Jaehwan isn’t dangerous; just dumb and an opportunistic asshole sometimes. He doesn’t like to follow recipes, laughs way too loudly when he turns people green, and is convinced he’s going to make the next greatest hair growth serum even though Minhyun tells him that it’s the _one thing he can never do, Jesus Jaehwan, people have tried already._

But being friends with someone like Jaehwan is fun sometimes too.

Minhyun’s just a regular guy with no magic involved in his life (besides Jaehwan). Things can get pretty boring in his line of work—Jaehwan’s crazy shenanigans are, if nothing else, good stories. Sometimes he likes to pretend he could be a part of that world, little mermaid references and all, and other times he realizes that he’s perfectly happy with the way things are, watching from the outside. Definitely less messy that way. And Minhyun hates messes.

He likes messy Jaehwan, however, likes being friends with him, and likes that Jaehwan took the time and effort to come over when he was sick with soup probably spiked with healing potion because he’s good person underneath his crazy laugh and tendency to torment the people in his life. He rarely ever torments Minhyun, which is why Minhyun keeps him around.

(And maybe a few other reasons too).

 

—

 

Minhyun feels better within a couple of hours, likely thanks to whatever Jaehwan slipped into his soup (because there was something). He still spends the rest of the day sleeping in bed, but when he wakes up, he doesn’t feel like death. That’s a victory in itself. When Minhyun asks Jaehwan about it later, he sheepishly claims healing potions aren’t his forte.

“I don’t know,” Minhyun says, turning his cup of tea around in his hands. Thanks to Jaehwan’s miracle potion, he’s able to leave the house in just a couple of days as opposed to the usual week or so. “We could can that and sell it. Make a fortune that way.”

“Yeaaaah.” Jaehwan drags the word out, jiggling his foot up and down. He seems distracted, fiddling with the watch on his wrist, and Minhyun wonders if he has somewhere to be. He doesn’t know what Jaehwan does exactly, but it keeps him busy. “By the way, do you feel any different?”

Minhyun frowns. “I feel better,” he says slowly. “Why?” Over the years, he’s realized that nothing good can come of questions like that. They’re usually accompanied by _please drink this antidote before you explode or turn into [insert thing here]._ Minhyun’s too young and handsome to explode, but part of him is curious about what it’d feel like to turn into something else. A fox, maybe, or a cat.

The pause drags on for too long. “No reason!” Jaehwan’s voice cracks on the last syllable. “A—anyways, I was working on—”

“Oh my god.” Minhyun has a bad feeling. A terrible, awful feeling. This is a violation of trust and friendship and frankly, he still feels a little loopy and paranoid from his head-cold, or a side effect from whatever Jaehwan tried to kill him with. Or maybe it’s his brain jumping to conclusions and making associations it shouldn’t. “Don’t tell me you—”

“I swear I didn’t try and turn you into anything. I swear on my mom. I swear on my _face_.”

That’s _too_ strong of a denial. Minhyun wonders if he’s supposed to feel reassured by this. “Then what are you being cryptic about?”

Jaehwan fidgets. “Do you maybe, feel, I dunno, something when you look at—I mean, you know, something in your chest or other places. Like, what I’m trying to ask is if you feel anything about me? _Differently?_ ” He swallows and takes a large sip of his coffee. “Did anything change between like, now and… yesterday?”

“N...o?” He’s not even sure what that’s supposed to mean or why Jaehwan wants to know. Nothing’s changed in short time since he’s been sick.

Jaehwan tilts his head to the side, scratching his neck. “You sure?”

“Yes. I’m really sure.” Minhyun drains the remains of his tea. For his own health and safety, Minhyun hopes that whatever Jaehwan tried to do failed. Otherwise, they’re going to have a problem.

Jaehwan slumps down in his seat and pulls out a notebook. “Shit,” he mumbles, scribbling something down on a blank page. Minhyun attempts to crane his neck and see what it says, but Jaehwan clutches it to his chest and shakes his head. “Never mind. It’s… none of your business.”

Minhyun isn’t going to pretend that last statement didn’t hurt a bit. “I can’t believe you experimented on me.”

“It wasn’t an experiment,” Jaehwan insists. The notebook disappears back into his pockets. “It was a _serious attempt_ to figure things out in the best way I knew how. Besides, I had to use up some… I’m not saying it was fairy dust, but it’s something similar.”

“Figure what out?” Minhyun ignores the fluff and cuts straight to the point. “Look, if I need to get my stomach pumped or something, or if I’m suddenly going to start singing showtunes in my underwear because you’re developing a musical theatre potion, please tell me now.”

“Jesus, Minhyun, I’m just trying to figure out if the _LOVE POTION_ worked!” Jaehwan slams his hand down on the table, voice rising at the words love and potion. The cafe regulars don’t even flinch. Jaehwan yelling nonsense is not a new thing.

“You… you slipped a love potion into my soup?” Is this real life or one of those bad shoujo mangas Jaehwan likes to read? A love potion? And worse— ”When I was _sick?”_

“Yeah, but I guess it didn’t work. I must’ve fucked up somehow.” Jaehwan closes his eyes and tips his head back. “Maybe I should’ve added powered satyr horn…? Would that would be lust potion instead? Do I _want_ a lust potion?”

“You don’t want a lust potion,” Minhyun says flatly. “No lust potions until the fifth date.” His head hurts. Jaehwan slipped a love potion in his soup. Alright, he can process that in this overly-crowded and small coffee shop. Is it hot in here or it just him? Minhyun tugs at his collar. A love potion has to mean something. It’s a complete violation of some kind of ethics, but it has to mean _something_. “Why would you even think about slipping me a love potion?”

“I was getting a little desperate, okay.” Jaehwan’s eyes dart guiltily around the cafe. “I mean, I wanted to ask you out, but I wasn’t going to if you weren’t interested.” He deflates and falls silent, Minhyun’s impassive expression sucking the courage out of him.

“So you tried to drug me into liking you?” It sounds worse saying it out loud. _Love potion_. Minhyun should be more freaked out by this than he is. Jaehwan’s rubbing off on him. No, that’s a bad choice of words. He doesn’t want Jaehwan rubbing off on him.

“Insurance?” Jaehwan tries, shrugging. “That way you would’ve said yes for sure and I could protect my fragile heart.” He won’t look at Minhyun—which is fair enough.

Minhyun leans back in his chair and plays with his cuffs. “Are we not going to talk about how that’s really messed up? What if it had worked and turned me into your love zombie or something?”

“It didn’t,” Jaehwan covers his face. “It didn’t work and now I’m really embarrassed.” He drags his hands down. “Though I could swear…” His hands fall away, brow furrowing. “Jihoon said it was foolproof, anyway.” He bites at his nails and brushes his hair back. “It worked for _him_.”

“Well.” Minhyun clears his throat and looks away. This conversation has taken a turn to the uncomfortable, though dimly, he wonders what Jihoon of all people would even need a love potion for. Still, to save someone from Jaehwan experimenting with love/lust potions on them, he takes one for the team and says, “Don’t start trying to change the recipe yet.”

Jaehwan squints. “What does that mean?”

Minhyun grimaces. “Figure it out,” he says. It’s not that hard, he thinks. Love potions probably don’t work when there’s nothing to fake. He refuses to say it out loud, however. It's ten different shades of mortifying. They've experienced enough embarrassment between the two of them this afternoon. 

“What I’m hearing is, _truth potion_ ,” Jaehwan says.

Minhyun gives him a tight lipped smile. “I’ll end you if you try.”

 

—

 

(It takes another failed love potion disaster and two weeks of a besotted Jisung trying to woo Jaehwan, featuring one _slightly_ jealous-but-unwilling-to-admit-it Minhyun for Jaehwan to actually ask Minhyun out on a date.

He says no at first.

The second time, however, he says yes—

and no potions required).

**Author's Note:**

> i was bored so um, have a crappy minhwan fic? i know only like 5% of this makes sense


End file.
